The Associated Press

Kent, Siena, Southern Illinois and Southwest Missouri State were winners on Thursday night as first-round play of the National Invitation Tournament ended and matchups were set for next week.

Friday, March 17, 2000

Kent, Siena, Southern Illinois and Southwest Missouri State were winners on Thursday night as first-round play of the National Invitation Tournament ended and matchups were set for next week.

Trevor Huffman scored 18 points and Andrew Mitchell added 13 as Kent (22-7) defeated visiting Rutgers 73-62 and set up a second-round game against Villanova (20-12).

Marcus Faison scored 22 points, including six in 60 seconds late in the game, lifted Siena (24-8) to a 66-65 win over Massachusetts in Albany, N.Y. The Saints will play Penn State in the next round.

Chris Thunell scored 21 points as Southern Illinois (20-12) edged Colorado 94-92 and became the only road team to win on Thursday night. The Salukis play BYU in the second round.

Allen Phillips scored 23 points and Scott Brakebill had 19 to give Southwest Missouri State (23-10) beat SMU 77-64, moving to the next round against Mississippi.

The other four second-round games match Xavier at Notre Dame on Monday, and Arizona State at North Carolina State, New Mexico at Wake Forest, and Georgetown at California on Tuesday.

Southern Illinois 94, Colorado 92

At Boulder, Colo., the Buffaloes’ Jose Winston attempted a 3-point shot at the buzzer for the win, but the ball bounced off the back of the rim.

When the game ended, Colorado coach Ricardo Patton threw the ball across the court at one of the officials and had to be restrained by three people as it appeared he would follow the refs into the locker room.

”I didn’t see things being called fairly,” Patton said of that game that had 44 fouls, 23 against Colorado. He apologized to his team and said, ”I go on record as apologizing to the fans who came. I was trying to protect the kids. I don’t think I owe the officials an apology.

”I thought we played well enough to win the ball game, but I thought there were some things that changed the game.”

Said Southern Illinois coach Bruce Weber: ”We played the game of the year for us. We all stepped up … I thought it was a well-officiated game. I thought the calls were balanced on both sides.”

Jamahl Mosley led the Buffs with a career-high 27 points.

Southwest Missouri State 77, SMU 64

At Springfield, Mo., Southwest Missouri went on an 11-0 run to move to a 43-31 halftime lead, and when SMU closed the gap to six points, the Bears went on a 13-0 burst to make it 61-42 with 14:12 left.

Southwest Missouri lost to SMU on Dec. 4 when the Mustangs took a 70-60 victory for the title of the Southwest Missouri State Pizza Hut Classic.